The author retired from the National Park Service after a 32-year career as a park ranger and biologist. He worked in 7 national parks - Crater Lake, Death Valley, Pinnacles, Zion, Big Bend, Great Smoky Mountains, and Virgin Islands - and as Regional Chief Scientist in the Southwest Region Office in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and as Chief of Resource Management and Chief Scientist for the National Park Service in Washington, D.C. Since retirement he has written 28 books on the National Parks and the wildlife, and two novels. Ro lives in Bryan, Texas.